Chapter 747

The day after Li Ye arrived at his unit, he called his master Old Ding's son, Ding Jiuchang, into his office.

Ding Jiuchang was a loyal follower who had come along with Li Ye when the First Branch Factory was established; after the management team for the First Branch Factory was set up, he served as the deputy section chief of the Sales Section.

This was also because his starting point was truly too low, making it impossible to promote him to the position of section chief.

"Senior Brother, I'll have a friend coming to buy a 130 truck in a little while; please allocate one from our mobile plan for this month for him."

Li Ye would not handle the matter of buying a car for Senior Brother Wang's second uncle personally; letting Ding Jiuchang do it was the most appropriate choice.

After all, he was a loyal follower! That was exactly what they were for; otherwise, it would lead to gossip about Li Ye "using public office for private gain."

"Very well, Factory Manager, I'll take care of it in a moment."

Ding Jiuchang agreed immediately, then lowered his voice and said, "However, Factory Manager, there is one thing I must tell you: our factory might not have any mobile plan left for this month."

"None left? How come I don't know about this? Did Factory Manager Lu approve them all away?"

Li Ye was very surprised because ever since the modified 130 from the First Branch Factory hit the market, the First Branch Factory had set aside a mobile sales plan of fifty vehicles every month to handle various well-connected individuals.

This was also a matter of necessity; the phenomenon of a small-time figure stalling an entire enterprise wasn't something that only appeared decades later.

Therefore, even though the market price outside was now two or three thousand higher, they still had to provide them at the ex-factory price.

But these fifty vehicle chits could only be approved by Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang, and because Li Ye was the deputy factory manager in charge of sales, Lu Zhizhang usually pushed these matters over to Li Ye.

So even if Lu Zhizhang had used all fifty vehicles for favors, he would have at least told Li Ye!

"It's not that, Factory Manager," Ding Jiuchang said in a low voice. "It's Lai Jiayi from the Labor Union. I saw her talking to Wu Kezhang Jiao for a long time the day before yesterday. Wu Kezhang Jiao was in a very difficult position, but in the end, he still gave them to her."

Li Ye's face darkened. "What qualifications does Jiao Zhenghua have to approve chits? Call him over here."

Jiao Zhenghua was a cadre who had been transferred from the General Factory a few days ago. He had qualifications and ability, and he seemed like a steady person; Li Ye didn't know why he would do such a thing.

Jiao Zhenghua arrived quickly, and after entering, he reached out to close the door.

Li Ye said, "Don't close the door, keep it open."

Jiao Zhenghua was stunned for a moment, then smiled awkwardly and said, "Factory Manager, what did you want to see me about?"

Li Ye asked directly, "How much of our factory's mobile sales plan is left for this month?"

Jiao Zhenghua's eyelids twitched, and he said honestly, "There isn't any left. The day before yesterday, Lai XX from the Labor Union asked me to allocate all the remainder for this month to the General Factory side. I wanted to report to you at the time, but you had gone to resolve the radiator issue..."

Li Ye said coldly, "And so you approved it for her? Do you think you have the qualifications to approve chits?"

"It's not that, it's not that," Jiao Zhenghua explained hurriedly. "I was unwilling at the time, but she came over with Secretary Yang from the General Factory. Moreover, Lai XX told me she would coordinate with you, Factory Manager, later on. I really had no choice..."

Li Ye suddenly shouted loudly, "You had no choice? Does having no choice mean you can violate the unit's rules and regulations? Who gave you the right to act on your own authority?

What is the Labor Union for? Can the Labor Union manage the affairs of your Sales Department? As a Sales Wu Kezhang, how could you make such a low-level mistake?"

"..."

Jiao Zhenghua finally understood why Li Ye wanted him to leave the door open; because Li Ye's loud voice was clearly meant for certain people to hear.

This was the difficult part about being a middle-level manager.

Even though Lai Jiayi was in charge of the Labor Union, her rank was high enough, and she had even brought Secretary Yang from the General Factory along.

Could Jiao Zhenghua, a small Sales Wu Kezhang with no roots or background who had just been promoted, stand up to these two "big shots"? Wouldn't he be given a hard time in the future?

This was actually a bad habit from the General Factory side; when officials are one rank higher, they can crush people. They feel they can meddle in everything, whether it's their business or not. At worst, they'll just muddle through with a messy account; as long as they don't tear off the mask of civility, any losses are just the public's.

But with Li Ye shouting so loudly, it was impossible for Lai Jiayi to turn a deaf ear. After all, Li Ye had even pointed out the "Labor Union," and was just one step away from calling people out by name.

"Deputy Factory Manager Li, why are you so angry!"

Lai Jiayi walked into Li Ye's office and closed the door behind her.

Li Ye said coldly, "Sister Lai, you've come at the right time. Wu Kezhang Jiao told me that you misappropriated our factory's entire mobile sales plan. Is that true?"

"How can you call that misappropriation?" Lai Jiayi said strangely. "The General Factory had a need, and Secretary Yang came over personally to talk about this matter. You happened to be away from the factory at the time; I couldn't just let Secretary Yang go back empty-handed, could I?"

Li Ye said indifferently, "The General Factory had a need? How come I didn't know about this? Sister Lai, do you know what the current market price is? A price difference of one hundred thousand yuan is very easy to cause misunderstandings."

Lai Jiayi said amusedly, "Deputy Factory Manager Li, you also know there's a price difference in the market! Then why don't you raise the price? Why waste so much profit for nothing?"

Li Ye's face turned cold, and he said coldly, "How the market is managed is my business. Since the First Branch Factory has been able to thrive so well in just a few months, it naturally has its reasons. Of course, an outsider wouldn't be able to see it clearly."

"..."

Lai Jiayi's face turned red with frustration.

She had originally thought that by catching Li Ye in a mistake, she could give him a hard time. After all, the improved 130 was in short supply, and scalpers had even appeared. As the deputy factory manager in charge of sales, why hadn't he raised the price yet?

Are you a fool? Are you competent?

But Li Ye had sarcastically called Lai Jiayi an "outsider." Tell me, isn't that infuriating?

However, Lai Jiayi couldn't refute Li Ye for the moment. After all, the First Branch Factory had been built from nothing to its current state where products were in short supply, all supported by Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang. They had the qualifications to call themselves "insiders."

After taking a few deep breaths, Lai Jiayi said sternly, "Deputy Factory Manager Li, although the First Branch Factory is managed independently, it is still under the leadership of the General Factory after all. We still have to give face to the General Factory. If we sour the relationship..."

"The relationship won't be soured."

Li Ye interrupted coldly, "In the last few months, we have delivered profits to the General Factory in excess of our targets. I can't think of any reason why the relationship would be soured."

"Furthermore, the First Branch Factory is still a pilot unit for management reform under the Ministry. I don't want to see certain non-compliant management bad habits appearing here."

"..."

Lai Jiayi brought up the leadership of the General Factory, and Li Ye brought up the support of the Ministry.

The achievements of the First Branch Factory were highly regarded by the leaders of the Ministry. You say the relationship will be soured?

You explain how it would be soured.

And don't try to pressure me with the General Factory's hat; I don't buy that.

Li Ye looked at Lai Jiayi, who was so frustrated she was almost suffering internal injuries, and said calmly, "Sister Lai, let me give you the bottom line: I won't hinder you from gilding your resume, but please don't hinder my management and operations."

"..."

Lai Jiayi was stunned.

What did Li Ye's words mean?

Not hinder me from gilding my resume? That means not hindering me from using the First Branch Factory to get a promotion, right?

But not hinder you from operating... are you trying to make me a mute?

Lai Jiayi started calculating in her heart, but in the end, she was still unwilling.

Now, even a fool could see that the First Branch Factory had infinite prospects. Lai Jiayi didn't want to wait for a promotion like a clay bodhisattva in the Labor Union; she also wanted to experience the thrill of wielding power.

Not to mention anything else, fifty vehicles—that was a real price difference of one hundred thousand yuan!